I wrote last week about the trend we're seeing of Customers looking to 3rd party software as the answer to their document management.
Although I believe that ultimately, the GC community will come back to Reprographers as the solution to what they want to do, I think it's very important to look at the opportunity behind the trend and how you, the Reprographer, can adapt to meet future demand.
Reprographers have the opportunity to go from lowly subcontractor to one of the most important pieces of the entire project. The trend in construction information indicates that you can finally make the leap from "Printer" to "Partner".
Who's Minding the Store?
It used to be that the project Architect was the keeper of the information. All drawings started there, the Architect hired all the Consultants, they even ordered sets of drawings for the project team. Accordingly, Reprographers marketed and sold mostly to Architects because they drove the process.
What do we see in the Industry now? Owners contracting directly with Subs, Consultants and even Reprographers. Digital workflow has democratized the information. Essentially, the power no longer lies with the Architect. I even think that on top of that, Architects are less willing to assume the risk associated with being the manager of the information.
So what happens now? The Architect doesnt' want to manage documents, the Subs won't, the GC has other things to do and the Owner isn't prepared to...so who becomes the gatekeeper? If you said the Reprographer, you're correct.
The Opportunity
Your opportunity as the Reprographer is to willingly accept this role and even promote it as your MAIN value proposition. Your value is not that you can print, so can your competitor. Your value must be as the "gatekeeper" of information on these high-value construction projects. You must promote yourself as the key to risk-management, efficiency, reduced costs and elimination of errors because you are the best at managing (and distributing) information for the project.
Construction is getting more complex and less efficient everyday. Both of those factors mean the developers spend more money. Show your value as the protector of the developer when it comes to information on his project and you will win the day and probably at a higher profit than competing for Architects.
Become the next generation of a Reprographer. Version 2.0.
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